That’s the Spirit!

By Alex Mesadieu

Last weekend the staff of Hannon Library hit the streets, marching in the 2015 Old Fashioned 4th of July Celebration, an event that has been celebrated in Ashland for over 100 years.

The Old Fashioned 4th of July Celebration begins every year at the crack of dawn, with a morning run, and ends with a massive parade. The parade attracts an estimated 20,000 spectators according to the Ashland Chamber of Commerce.

Hannon Library staff marched in the parade surrounded by over 100 representatives of the different programs and departments at Southern Oregon University. SOU’s entry in the parade had everything from a rock band playing music from the back of a truck, to SOU President Roy Saigo waving to thousands of audience members.

SOU is indispensable to the economic and cultural framework of Ashland. Because of SOU’s important role in the region, university employees love to participate in the events and traditions that make Ashland great.

See video coverage of the parade, courtesy of RVTV, here: https://youtu.be/U6R848Kt7q8?t=19m18s4thofJuly

Lepidoptera in the Library

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By Alex Mesadieu

butterfly

Usually, hundreds of insects would not make a building better, but this is not the case with Hannon Library’s latest digital collection. Hannon Library has teamed up with students, researchers, and amateur collectors to create the Southern Oregon University Insect Museum—Butterfly Collection.

Butterfly CollectionThe digital collection displays over 300 butterflies from the Oregon and Northern California regions. Visitors to the library’s website can see every kind of local butterfly imaginable, from Anglewings to Tortoiseshells.

Whether you have a passion for nature, insects, or just love beautiful photos, check out this great new collection on our website.

Digital Collections Banner

Painted Faces

By Dylan Keenan

Come see Hannon Library’s newest art exhibit, a collection of original paintings by Kate Burrow.KBurrowPainting1

KBurrowPainting2Kate Burrow is an Ashland artist that has a distinct style within her painting techniques as well as the canvases she chooses to use. She primarily works with either oil or acrylic paint on scraps of uniquely aged wood, which she usually finds around town. The paintings themselves are portraits of either people she has known, seen, or observed, or of people she envisions one day meeting. Burrow compliments these portraits with bright, vibrant colors that draw the viewer in to understand the character that is being portrayed.

KBurrowPainting3KBurrowPainting5Kate Burrow’s paintings will be on display in the third floor gallery through the July. Visitors can view the exhibit anytime during library business hours.

Photography by F. W. McWhorter

A Fond Farewell

By Alex Mesadieu

comm202Last week, Hannon Library had the bittersweet task of saying goodbye to ten of our student employees—Steven Beatty, Emily Borman, Hannah Gogulski, Mariah Gonzales, Kelsie Lawson, Edward Pay, Haley Petty, Cristian Ramirez, Elizabeth Williams, and Kaiwen Zhang, who have all graduated from SOU.

Student workers play a major role in how the library operates. WithHappy Grad over 16 departments and just 28 non-student employees, student workers are essential to making the library run seven days a week. In exchange for their dedicated service, Hannon Library gives university students unique opportunities for developing skills outside of the classroom experience. Library student workers receive practical training in office management, computing, event planning, customer service, tutoring, and many more skills that are essential for graduates entering the work force.

The staff at Hannon Library wish nothing but success for all of our graduating students. Congratulations class of 2015!

Music in the Library: SOU “Beloved Valley” Gamelan

The SOU Gamelan Degung Leuwi Asih – “Beloved Valley” Gamelan – directed by Barb Barasa will offer a free outdoor concert on Thursday, May 28, from noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Library Plaza in front of the Southern Oregon University Hannon Library.

GamelanPhotoThe ensemble will perform traditional gamelan degung music plus a piece by 20th century composer Lou Harrison featuring SOU student Abraham Murillo, French horn, and the premieres of pieces written for the ensemble by two local composers who are also members of the ensemble: “Song for Spring” by I’lana Cotton, featuring Arlene Tayloe, violin; and “Dewi Sri” by Scott Miller. The SOU gamelan musicians are SOU students and community members.

The term “gamelan” refers to both the instruments and the people who perform on them. The instruments are a set of Indonesian chimes, drums and gongs. Each area of Indonesia has a distinct tuning system and style of playing. SOU’s gamelan ensemble plays music of the Sundanese people, an ethnic group that inhabits a small corner of the island of Java. Sundanese gamelan is tuned in a five tone scale.

Gamelan is an ancient form of music which originated on the islands of Indonesia. Traditional gamelan music is cyclic in form and ranges in spirit from meditative and mellow to very energetic. It has influenced western composers like Claude Debussy, John Cage, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, and Mickey Hart.

The performance is FREE and all ages are welcome! Bring your lunch and join us for this popular event.

For more information about Gamelan Leuwi Asih, see the website:
www.sou.edu/music/gamelan.html
or contact Dale Vidmar
vidmar@sou.edu
541-552-6842